City Official, WTC Clinicians Testify In Support of 9/11 Health LegislationApril 23, 2009

On April
22, Congress held a hearing on
the 9/11
Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847). The
legislation would establish a permanent medical monitoring and treatment program
for WTC rescue and recovery workers and the lower Manhattan community.

Caswell Holloway, Chief of Staff to Deputy Mayor for
Operations Edward Skyler and Special Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg, testified in support of a steady funding stream for the WTC Centers of Excellence. "Passing this bill would, at
long last, achieve these goals, and fully engage the Federal government in
resolving the health challenges created by the attack on our entire nation that
occurred on 9/11," said Holloway. "People from every part of the country
perished in the attack, and people from all 50 states also took part in the
subsequent relief and recovery efforts. And that makes addressing the resulting
health effects of 9/11, as well as compensating those who were harmed as fairly
and expeditiously as possible, a national responsibility."

The expert witnesses also included Dr. Jacqueline
Moline, Director of the WTC Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program and Dr.
Joan Reibman, Medical Director of the WTC Environmental Health Center. "We now
have an interdisciplinary medical and mental health program that has evaluated
and is treating approximately 3,500 patients," said Dr. Reibman in her testimony. "We continue to receive
inquiries each week; while most come from local people, we have received calls
from individuals living in about 20 other states."